SB 736 Oklahoma Senate · 2025 Regular Session

Income tax; creating the Health Care Sharing Ministry Tax Parity Act; stating certain deduction and procedures; requiring Oklahoma Tax Commission to create forms and guidelines. Effective date.

SB 736, the Health Care Sharing Ministry Tax Parity Act, allows Oklahoma residents who are active members of qualifying health care sharing ministries (HCSMs) to deduct their contributions from their state income tax starting in 2026. It directly affects Oklahoma residents using HCSMs - defined as tax-exempt organizations (501(c)(3)) requiring shared ethical/religious beliefs and voluntary cost-sharing - by treating their HCSM expenses similarly to traditional health insurance premiums. Key provisions include permitting deductions for self-employed individuals, employer-paid HCSM benefits (as nontaxable fringe benefits), and requiring the Oklahoma Tax Commission to create forms and guidelines for claiming the deduction. The bill also specifies that HCSM payments received for medical expenses are not taxable income and imposes penalties for fraudulent claims.

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2025

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Feb 3, 2025 Last action Feb 10, 2025

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What changed between versions

Introduced → Committee Substitute · 6 edits

MODERATE

The bill was amended from its original introduced version to a committee substitute version, primarily updating the bill's title to reflect 'income tax' rather than 'revenue and taxation', changing the effective date language, and modifying several technical details regarding tax deductions and reporting requirements.

Scope change

The bill's scope remains focused on creating tax parity for Health Care Sharing Ministries (HCSMs), but the committee substitute clarifies certain definitions and administrative procedures.

TECHNICAL

The bill title was changed from 'relating to revenue and taxation' to 'relating to income tax' to better reflect the specific tax deduction provisions.

DEFINITION

The definition of 'qualified health care sharing expenses' was broadened from 'contributions made' to 'amounts paid' to clarify what expenses qualify for the tax deduction.

REQUIREMENT

The requirement for the Oklahoma Tax Commission to create forms was changed to 'prescribe forms and guidelines' to give the commission more flexibility in implementation.

The reporting requirement for the Tax Commission was changed from issuing an annual report to 'electronically submit an annual report' to modernize the reporting method.

FISCAL

The language regarding funds received from HCSMs was updated to specify that these funds are not taxable for tax years 2026 and subsequent years.

TIMELINE

The effective date section was retained but the bill number at the bottom was updated from 60-1-1321 to 60-1-1659, reflecting the new bill number in the committee substitute.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Feb 10, 2025

Committee

Referred to Appropriations

upper

Feb 10, 2025

Upper · Passed

Reported Do Pass, amended by committee substitute Revenue and Taxation committee; CR filed

upper

Feb 3, 2025

Introduced

First Reading

upper

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors